If It Was Your Birthday
by Shinra-ex-SOLDIER
Summary: /We'd celebrate it. If not, we could still have this cake./ Upon which Naegi assumes it was Kirigiri's birthday and acts on it. Friendship fic but could be romance if you squint hard enough. Post-first-game. Extra at the end: Yesterday was Alright


**If It Was Your Birthday**

~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~

There is an unspoken rule that Kirigiri is the most analytical among the group. So it came without saying that naturally she would be inquisitive about the state of her dining room. She and Naegi had pulled an all-nighter and due to fatigue, ended up staying together right after. _Professionally_, of course. It was just a night of sharing the same roof between co-workers but not exactly the same room. Honestly, she never considered that he still had the strength in him to actually do something about her otherwise empty dining table.

"Naegi-kun, what is this?" She asked, no, _demanded_. She was a woman of truth. She needed answers immediately.

"I thought it was obvious. I'm pretty sure anyone can tell you that it's a cake." For someone who was exhausted, his grin had told her otherwise although she had thought that the slight drip of sarcasm was totally unnecessary.

"Are you humouring me?" Her tone was even although coming from her, it wasn't that surprising.

"Maybe. Just a little bit." He looked like he was enjoying himself.

A small white cake with strawberries around the edges. It was square though Kirigiri had thought if he considered getting a round one would just remind them of the obnoxious Monokuma. It was a theory- just one of the many possibilities. She also noted that there weren't any nearby cake shops or any other kind of shop at all and even then, her definition of near was stretching it.

This was one of the frequent happenings in her life. Naegi would give her gifts every now and then. There's no hidden meaning to it though since this friendly act of his was routine to everyone else as well. Thinking back, he was like this even when they were still in that _school_. Oddly enough, despite of the horrible memories, she still had some good ones too if it weren't for her friends like Naegi. However, it also reminded her of one of their livelier conversations.

"If this is one of your attempts to get a reaction from me then I suggest that you could at least be more creative." She hid her amusement composedly. "Going back to the matter at hand, I shall repeat myself. Naegi-kun, what is the meaning of this?"

He put on a newspaper hat and released his inner child. "Ta-dah! Happy birthday, Kirigiri-san!"

And on his face was probably the brightest grin he had ever worn second only to the day they had finally won.

Of course, that's how it was. While she knew that it was one of the more obvious from the start, it does not hurt to confirm one's theories first. After all, working on pure assumptions can be dangerous. There's just this one contradiction though.

"I don't recall ever sharing you that information."

"You never did. But just because I don't know about it doesn't mean we can't celebrate it."

"And I assume you picked this day out of all those in the calendar arbitrarily."

"I wouldn't call it _arbitrarily _but I guess I just had this really strong feeling."

"If you don't mind me asking, please elaborate."

As a detective, it is not enough to just identify the culprit. One must also find out the motive.

Naegi knew this much about her that even though most people wouldn't question any further and just go straight to the partying, he was for her understanding enough to still explain it. After all, it's not like she was asking for the impossible.

"It's like this… umm, I just woke up and thought, _I should greet Kirigiri-san today, _or is that no good?" Then again, these explanations of his never did come out well thought of. He grinned sheepishly. "Well, it really was just me guessing but I'm not joking or anything. I really do want to celebrate your birthday so I'm sorry for imposing on you and thank you if you're okay with doing it with me."

With her eyes closed, Kirigiri took a few moments to sort out this new information. _So that's how it is. _Having taken everything into account, she surmised all that she needed. All the facts were organized now. She breathed a sigh of relief then finally opened her eyes. She held a firm gaze.

"Naegi-kun, may I just say one thing?" Her tone was as flat as ever and without even the slightest hint of emotion.

"Oh, s-sure." And honestly, her tone or lack thereof made him nervous.

"That's enough."

"Huh?"

"You really are too kind."

He felt a bead of sweat trickle down his nape. "Thanks, I guess? I don't think I follow."

"Relax. I'm not mad." She tucked a few strands of her lavender hair behind her ear.

"You're not? Thank goodness!" And just when he was about to be swamped with happiness-

She crossed her arms. "In fact, I'm furious."

And Naegi crossed his heart to always let Kirigiri finish her sentences.

She held a steely gaze. "To do something so unexpected without considering my circumstances is something only someone with a ridiculously positive outlook in life. Had it been any other recipient aside from me, they would have probably jumped for joy. However, you chose me instead. I wonder if you've fully thought about the consequences of your actions."

After her speech, she took out a pen and a notepad she had on her. She wrote a few words on it, tore one sheet, neatly folded it, and hid all items again. Perhaps they were the rest of her words- too harsh to even say it out loud.

The tension was so heavy that Naegi felt it on his shoulders. Or was it the guilt? He was _this _close to kneeling in front of her had it not been for the fact that he knew that doing so may actually insult her instead.

"I'm sorry, Kirigiri-san."

"So you did this and now that things have gone sour, you too have gone back on your actions. I must say that you've disappointed me."

"You've got that wrong."

Since when was the last time she's heard of his overused line. And frankly, she didn't know how to take that.

"I don't regret my actions. I did it for the sake of your happiness. Anything done with that kind of reason, while at times, unforgivable, isn't something that I should regret." His face reminded her of back then too. It was just so serious that it would put Togami's to shame. And just as suddenly, he turned back to apologetic. "That's why I said that. I'm sorry for not regretting what I did."

With everything said and done, Kirigiri just shot down his argument- with her laugh.

It was small and so very soft that Naegi had to strain his ears just to check that he wasn't imagining it. But it was there. Her shoulders were shaking a bit to match with her laughter. He thought that he had never seen anything so confusing in his life.

"My, my, what's with all that talk?" She smiled.

"Wait, I thought you were mad." In fact, he was almost expecting her to backlash at him.

"Didn't I just tell you that I wasn't mad?" She teased.

"Yeah, you said that you were furious." He pointed out.

"It was a joke." She easily said.

All the color from him was drained. "You were kidding me?"

"Did you not hear me the first time?"

"Oh, good one. _Not_!" It was more of scary as heck than funny. "I think I could've lived without it."

"But now you've lived with it."

"Somehow I feel like you're telling me to thank you."

"Once something is said, there's really no guarantee that it'll be interpreted the same way you thought of it."

"Fine, I give up." He chuckled. "Or I could just pass it as me letting you win this argument since it's your birthday."

"I have yet to let you confirm that fact."

"Okay, _as if _it was your birthday. I mean, I already have the cake, I think that's valid enough."

Contrary to her cool demeanor, Kirigiri appreciated Naegi and his acts of kindness. He was indeed, a true friend. Despite her mystery, he vouched for her and even went so far as to befriend her. Well, in his defense, he was on friendly terms on everyone. He stood up for her even when she was doing something horrible to him. And maybe that's just why it was so easy to get along with him. Optimism was his best quality maybe even to a fault. She briefly wondered if she had other reasons for tolerating him.

It was a theory- just one of the many possibilities.

"As a token of my appreciation, I think I'll try my hand at this gift giving." And with that, the earlier folded paper was given to him.

With great anticipation, he gulped, and then read its contents.

"Your birthday was yesterday?! "

~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~

**Shinra-ex-SOLDIER**

Extra: _Yesterday was Alright_

It was quiet that night except for the occasional bursts of apology.

"I'm sorry that you're working this late with me." Naegi apologized for the nth time already. "If only I could work as fast as Togami then you wouldn't be stuck here with me."

"On the off-chance that you could be like Togami then you would certainly work fast and your tongue would be just as sharp as well. Don't make things any more inconvenient than it already is." Kirigiri reassured him. "Besides, I don't mind the extra work."

"I'm really sorry again, Kirigiri-san."

Then the silence regained its right. For a long while, they stayed like that. Not a word passed from their lips. Not a word ever reached one another. And all was right in the world.

If only that were true.

For the time being, at least some things were right. Like how they had jobs now and how they're helping in making a better world. They had good friends, and the two of them were great friends. They had sufficient resources to get going and to do something. The list could go on but it would never sum up to _all._

But that's okay. Take it a step at a time. Never lose hope.

So for tonight, Naegi thought he'd at least fix one more thing even if it meant leaving Kirigiri with all the work if only for three minutes. And after the said time had passed, what he held in his hand was his hope of fixing one thing no matter how trivial.

He held a cup of instant noodles.

And gave it to her. "Here, you haven't eaten dinner yet, right? Sorry but this is all that I got that's convenient to eat."

Kirigiri, on the other hand, did not take it. "True but on that account, you too haven't eaten yet, Naegi-kun."

"It's fine. I'll just grab something later when we're through."

"I don't think that's necessary. We're sharing this cup."

He flinched. "No way. You can't possibly be okay with just half of it."

She smiled. "Then I guess you'll just have to take me out to eat later too."

And maybe not all was right in the world but hopefully, those things that are right are those that matter.

~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~

**OCTOBER 6**. _Happy birthday to Kyoko Kirigiri!_

I CANNOT CONTAIN HOW AWESOME HER BIRTH DATE IS. I drew her in cup noodles at my deviantart account XD I'll draw a more serious fanart once my exams are over.  
Did you feel that? That was me shipping them. But it's hard to write an actually shipping fic without them being OC so I tried my hardest.

For the past month, I've been killing myself for not writing a DR fic because of college but HER BIRTHDAY. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it, paalam!


End file.
